Top Bar
Musique Machine Logo Home ButtonReviews ButtonArticles ButtonBand Specials ButtonAbout Us Button
SearchGo Down
Search for  
With search mode in section(s)
And sort the results by
show articles written by  
 Review archive:  # a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Jim Haynes - Telegraphy by the sea [The Helen Scarsdale Agency - 2006]

Telegraphy by the sea finds Haynes building a rich and varied  collection of drone textures, going from clearly organic dry crackles to deeper more lushly dark electronics. Covering a lot of ground in it’s near on hour running time-from mysterious, haunting, to rewarding.

It’s nicely presented in a grim hand-printed letterpress & silkscreen artwork of telegraph poles on black paper by Haynes himself, which seems to illustrate the weather worn and decaying and rusting drone quality of the sounds with in perfectly. The sound having the feeling of been organic, as if it’s caught on the wind or humming up through the earth or vibrations of  wires. Yet still very much composed sound tones been manipulated into atmospheric and building banks of sound, almost like vaguely melodic fog slipping out of ones stereo and growing into your listening space, almost giving the feeling of the outside inside.

It brings to mind either slowly advancing grey seascapes or black and white footage of endless treeless deserter, the only things standing lines upon lines of telegraph poles. As the sounds build up density it has almost a  deep space feel, as the drones seem to become denser and more claustrophobic almost like dark bone chilling star constellations pressing in on you. But just as it feels it going to engulf you with the thickness of tone, it drops down to a slow wine glass humming harmonic drone, before building up layers of sound, but  not as denser as before. A wonderful drone becomes the focus of the track almost like  the sorrowful low drone of a cello, giving a real emotional depth to the piece, before returning to the denser more deep space drones.

Like all great long form soundpaintings and atmospheric sound worlds, this changers , grows or dies back to a near murmur. Haynes keeps the listener guessing and captivated to were he will take the piece next.This only has a small pressing of 500, so don’t think about picking this up for too long. A rewarding and deep work of sound art.

Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5

Roger Batty
Latest Reviews

Jim Haynes - Telegraphy by the sea
Telegraphy by the sea finds Haynes building a rich and varied  collection of drone textures, going from clearly organic dry crackles to deeper more lush...
180725   Dirk Serries - Zonal Disturb...
180725   Various Artists - Martina Ver...
180725   Vampire At Midnight - Vampire...
180725   Johannes Kalitzke - Kapitan N...
170725   Paula Sanchez/Katharina Weber...
170725   Black Gravel - Black Gravel ...
170725   Timothy McCormack & Jack Yarb...
160725   Primeiro - Music for Horses ...
160725   Terror In The Fog: The Wallac...
150725   Olion/ Dresser - Split
Latest Articles

Matthew Holmes - Of razor-sharp t...
It’s fair to say the Sharksploitation genre is often tried, tested, and to be honest, tired. Fear Below is a 2025 Australian film that tries to do some...
180625   Matthew Holmes - Of razor-sha...
280525   The Residents - Visits From T...
090525   Ennaytch - Of walls, abused ...
150425   Dead, Dead Swans interview - ...
110325   Sebastian Tomb - Walls of unb...
040225   Alien Sex Fiend - Possessed B...
231224   Best Of 2024 - Music, Sound &...
191224   Splintered - Somewhere Betwee...
031224   Shane Ryan-Reid - Coerced and...
221024   Whore’s Breath - life’s h...
Go Up
(c) Musique Machine 2001 -2025. Twenty four years of true independence!! Mail Us at questions=at=musiquemachine=dot=comBottom